just got a new toy today....

[rsanter]

so I got my new toy today.
its a powered bead roller that is a copy of a lazzy bead roller but with a few tweaks and improvements. this is very stout and very heavy.
this was made for me by a good friend of mine. now I just need to paint it and add the VFD and control pedals. then I need to either machine a few dies or buy some from lazzy.

bob

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[EJM02]

sweet!

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Show us a pic of the unit in operation!

 

[senlow]

That's a nice bead roller, Bob. I like the chain drive gear motor on your machine. That is definitely an improvement over the Lazze. The motor position on your unit makes the machine more compact (no **** hanging off the side), and lowers the center of mass a bit.

I'm impressed by the attention to detail in the adjustment features. I use those adjustable angle levers quite a bit. The sliding T-handle is better than Lazze uses. The taper and the grooves in the body of the T-handle look cool. I wonder if it would be useful to replace the hex nut on the T-handle with some sort of wing nut, so that the roller height can be locked in position without tools?

I see some sharp corners on the plates that hold the tubes in place and on the base plate that the bead roller is attached to. You may want to grind 45 deg angles on them to reduce the opportunity of getting caught on them.

 

[mitusa]

Just a suggestion, but what about a guard for the chain??

 

[Outlawmws]

That looks cool! useful too!

 

[rsanter]

Did some work on the bead roller today. My friend built it for me but the finish work was left up to me.
I used my belt sander to relieve the corners and edges all over the thing and just smooth things out for a better feel and look.
Yes it needs a chain guard, again something that was left to me to do.
I sprayed it red today, came out decent but got a few sags in the paint so I need to sand those a bit and put another coat on to finish things up.
I have the VFD and the control pedals and will put those on as soon as I am all finished with the painting.
It will use dies with 20mm ID so I need to either get some thick wall tubing or some solid stock and start with making the dies so I can put this thing to use

Bob

 

[rsanter]

well I finally finished getting my new toy painted and reassembled. now I just need to machine the dies for it so I can start using it
for now just showing it off

bob

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[HMCFab9]

Cool new tool project!
What's the motor / drive from?
I've been looking for one for a while.
I've looked at & used the Baileigh with the quick release & it works great, but I'd like to spend a LOT less than what that costs.
Keep us posted on how it works.

 

[toolman1967]

Looks very nice!

Tim the Toolman